Anything that gets in the way of us loving fellow Christians should give us pause--those things that cause strife among us and are controversial. How much airtime should we be giving these things? Who is spreading the gospel and being a light for Jesus when believers are spun up and publicly promoting sideline issues?
These issues that bring discord by their very nature, not how they are presented (and we ought to be shrewd in understanding what these things are--naivety is no friend), should Christians even be involved with these issues, trying to influence others? Whenever we support a cause, we're putting our reputation on the line. This alone is why people often find themselves backing up from supporting something. It starts out OK, but then goes in an off direction for one reason or another. As believers we need to be careful what we 'hitch our wagon' to.
These things that we feel so passionately about and that we allow to be out in front of others, remembering we're REPRESENTATIVES OF JESUS CHRIST:
are they of God?
or are they of man?
Question: Is freedom necessary for a Christian?
Question: How much time did Jesus devote to fighting the oppressive laws of His day?
Final question: Could Satan use our wrong thinking about freedom to divide us? Would he do that?
Why the World Hates Christians
I'm not suggesting we as Christians do nothing to stand for freedom, but I think we get caught up FAR too often in sideline issues that take the focus off the Gospel. We allow our personal preferences and personal convictions to become public controversies. I do not think this is from God. I think Satan uses these things to divide us and deflect focus off the Gospel, which is the ONLY thing that will save mankind from eternal damnation. People have been oppressed and not had 'what they deserve' as far as rights for centuries. The church grew, it thrived. Why in America do we let them play us? Souls are lost every day into eternity. Do we care more about that than our personal freedoms?
These issues that bring discord by their very nature, not how they are presented (and we ought to be shrewd in understanding what these things are--naivety is no friend), should Christians even be involved with these issues, trying to influence others? Whenever we support a cause, we're putting our reputation on the line. This alone is why people often find themselves backing up from supporting something. It starts out OK, but then goes in an off direction for one reason or another. As believers we need to be careful what we 'hitch our wagon' to.
These things that we feel so passionately about and that we allow to be out in front of others, remembering we're REPRESENTATIVES OF JESUS CHRIST:
are they of God?
or are they of man?
Question: Is freedom necessary for a Christian?
Question: How much time did Jesus devote to fighting the oppressive laws of His day?
Final question: Could Satan use our wrong thinking about freedom to divide us? Would he do that?
Why the World Hates Christians
I'm not suggesting we as Christians do nothing to stand for freedom, but I think we get caught up FAR too often in sideline issues that take the focus off the Gospel. We allow our personal preferences and personal convictions to become public controversies. I do not think this is from God. I think Satan uses these things to divide us and deflect focus off the Gospel, which is the ONLY thing that will save mankind from eternal damnation. People have been oppressed and not had 'what they deserve' as far as rights for centuries. The church grew, it thrived. Why in America do we let them play us? Souls are lost every day into eternity. Do we care more about that than our personal freedoms?
No comments:
Post a Comment